Turns Out NYRs Are Just Goals in Sparkly Dresses

Raise your hand if the bodies of your 2018 resolutions were already cold before February.

I raised mine (figuratively, because I’m lazy) Did you raise yours?

If you didn’t, you’re a goddamn superhero. The exception to the rule. I want you to know that.

If you did: Hello friend, we are the same. And there are many more like us.

New Year’s resolutions are kind of crap.

I mean, not really.

They’re sort of beautiful, I guess.

Like, for example, Remember 2012? Obama had just been reelected, Michael Phelps was king, and we were jamming *hard* to Call Me Maybe. ‘Twas a simpler time.

Fast forward three years, though, and 2017 had a wholly different vibe. Sort of sinister. Austere. Dare I say, grim, like a big, orange cloud had been hanging over our heads. And it affected everything and everyone. The global tone had changed.

By the time 2018 could be seen dancing on the horizon, the people had long been begging for it. Calling out to it from a distance. Looking for the new year to bring the sweet relief of a fresh start.

And people all over the country, all over the world, set their New Year’s Resolutions. A small but marked gesture that there was still hope. That deep down, people always believe, no matter what kind of heartbreak and disappointment the last 365 days incited, this new year could be better.

….but then we let our NYRs die a fiery death in 31 days or less…lol

See why I called them crap?

And it’s not because the resolution itself was crap. It’s the unreasonable amount of pressure we put on ourselves to uphold them. We don’t think of them in the way we think of other goals: a final destination after a long journey that has pitfalls and failures. We, for some reason, hold them to a higher standard. Like if we mess up once the game is over. Gotta wait til next year to become a painter, or run that half marathon, or live a more sustainable life. But that’s crap!

Do you want to know what my New Year’s Resolution was?

There were many little ones like, practice my guitar more, eat no meat, finish my novel and do daily yoga. But the big one, the overarching theme I wanted to bring into 2018 was:

GET CLOSER TO BECOMING THE PERSON YOU WANT TO BE.

Have I eaten meat? Yes, there was surf and turf sushi roll in front of me, okay? Have I picked up my guitar? Twice.

But that doesn’t mean the game is over. I can still get closer to becoming the person I want to be. All I have to do is start doing the things that person would do.

You want to be healthier? Start doing the things your idea of a healthy person would do. You want to be kinder? Same thing.

That’s it. Just start. And if you stop for a month, start again. If you feel like a fraud, fuck it, then be a fraud until you’re not one . Until that’s just you. There is no NYR police, there is only you. And you can hold yourself accountable in a way that is loving and tolerant and understanding of your humanness. You can recognize that you don’t need to be the perfect example of your goal in order to be getting closer to it. And closer is a pretty good start.